Fake Japanese whisky countermeasures now include official Japanese whisky emblem

With so many “Japanese whiskies” available overseas being less than genuine, logo seeks to keep buyers’ expectations in line with what’s actually in the bottle.

In recent years, Japanese whisky has exploded in popularity internationally. Even if you’re a seasoned veteran of Japan’s pub and bar circuit, if you walk into a liquor store overseas you might be surprised at how many brands of Japanese whisky they offer that you’ve never seen before.

However, this proliferation of Japanese whisky options outside Japan isn’t because importers are a step ahead of anyone else. It’s because a lot of the “Japanese whisky” you can buy overseas isn’t actually Japanese whisky at all, in the sense that it wasn’t fully produced in Japan. Piggybacking on the success and worldwide recognition of genuine Japanese distilleries, there’s now a whole sub-industry of companies that simply bottle or blend imported whiskies at facilities in Japan, then export it for sale overseas, often with gaudy packaging touting how very “Japanese!” it is.

The Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association, an industry group with 104 members, has decided that enough is enough and is taking steps to put a stop to the intentionally misleading presentation of such whiskies. On March 27, the association announced its latest countermeasure as it unveiled a new labeling mark to be placed on products that meet the organization’s criteria for authentic Japanese whisky.

The emblem consists of the letters JW stylistically stamped on the top of a whisky cask, along with the designation Japanese whisky and the initials of the Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association. To qualify for use of the emblem, the following conditions must be met:

1. Malted grains must be used, and raw ingredients must be limited to malted grains, other cereal grains, and water. The water used must be extracted in Japan.
2. Saccharification, fermentation, and distillation must be carried out at a distillery in Japan.
3. The distilled product must be aged for at least three years within Japan in wooden casks not exceeding 700 liters in size.
4. Bottling must take place in Japan, with alcoholic strength of at least 40 percent at the time.

These conditions were first codified by the JSLMA in 2021, but with a lenient provision of three years for whisky sellers to revise their packaging. However, since the JSLMA is a trade association, it doesn’t have the authority to compel companies to comply with its rules, so it’s currently still legal for companies to bottle imported whisky in Japan and label it as “Japanese whisky.” What the JSLMA can do, though, is deny usage of its seal of approval to companies who don’t adhere to its definition of Japanese whisky, signaling to shoppers overseas that without the JW mark, it probably isn’t what they’re thinking of when they hear “Japanese whisky.”

“By having JSLMA members apply this logo to their products that comply with the industry standards, the association hopes to raise awareness of Japanese whisky both in Japan and abroad while also making it easier for consumers to distinguish it from other types of whisky,” says the organization in its announcement of the emblem. The statement also specifies that this is part of the JSLMA’s “ongoing efforts to make their industry standards into a legally binding definition, as they begin preparation for Geographical Indication (GI) status application,” which, if granted, would apply official legal penalties against companies that label their products as “Japanese whisky” without meeting its criteria, similar to the protected status of “champagne,” as opposed to “sparkling wine” in some jurisdictions.

Source: Japan Spirits and Liqueurs Makers Association via Yomiuri Shimbun
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